Girls Soccer: Girls look to ride dominant regular season into deep playoff run

The girls finished the season off strong, looking to continue their dominance into their playoff run. Following their victory over Quince Orchard in the regular season, the girls look to play similarly in order to defeat them in the playoffs. The Cougars visited the Patriots in the second round of the state playoffs on Nov. 1.
The Patriots beat the Cougars for the second time this season, after their 2-1 victory that came late in the game.
After a scoreless first half, the Cougars got on the board first early in the second half. It took nearly the entire half to tie the game, as junior Caroline Wang got the Patriots on the board with just 10 minutes remaining in the game off a cross from junior Jillian Gonzales. Minutes later, Gonzales found the back of the net herself after a penalty kick was awarded to the Patriots due to a hand ball in the box. Gonzales has helped propel the girls deep into the state playoffs where they will face Northwest in the sectional final. The next match will be on Nov. 4 but will be too late to be covered in this issue.
In their first playoff game against Kennedy on Oct. 27, the girls dominated, putting up eight goals in their shutout victory.
The girls showed their dominance against the Cavaliers and proved that they are a State Championship caliber team.
The girls lit up the scoring sheet, with two goals from senior forward Rachel Feldman and senior defender Meredith Murdock netted a goal.
“Beating Kennedy in the first round has given us a lot of momentum for our next game against Quince Orchard and we can’t wait to see how far we can go in the playoffs this year,” senior forward Rachel Feldman said.
The Patriots honored their seniors with a senior night ceremony before their game against Walter Johnson on Oct 19. Nine seniors were recognized, including Jenna Cohen, Sarah Alkon, Meredith Murdock, Ali Zifrony, Rachel Feldman, Emma Weinstein, Julia Gastwirth and Michelle Su.
Despite the 5-1 loss to Walter Johnson on Oct. 19, the seniors played a hard-fought game on their final regular season home game of their high school career.
“Although we lost, I couldn’t have asked for a better team and support from everyone who got me to where I am today,” senior defender Meredith Murdock said.
The Patriots continued to crush their opponents, destroying Einstein 9-1 on Oct. 14 for their seventh win of the season.
The girls racked up the scoring total with goals from Feldman, junior Sarah Delapa and a hat trick from Gonzales. Murdock and senior forward Isabella Oliva each found the back of the net, contributing to the blowout victory.
The Patriots have proved to be a top team in the state and have potential to make a run for the state title. With a talented roster, the girls have worked hard to get to where they are and hope their season doesn’t come to a close any time soon.